Photo courtesy of Peter Blum
Peter Blum and his wife Gail Renita Blum relax at their home in Hillsdale.
Peter Blum, associate professor of sociology and social thought, lives in a comfortable house in town with his wife and their many pets. Blum leads a relatively laidback life, reflective of his personality.
Originally from Millersbury, Ohio, a small town about the size of Hillsdale, he grew up one of six children. After attending a Mennonite high school, Blum went on to continue his education, but after a year of college decided to take some time off.
“I’m one of those people who bombed out near the end of my freshman year,” he said, explaining that transitioning directly into college is not for everyone.
Blum took three years off school and was married on Sept. 1, 1979 to Gail Renita Martin. Blum then enrolled at Goshen College in Indiana, eventually attaining a doctorate in sociology from the University of Notre Dame with emphasis on social theory and sociology of religion.
Blum began working at Hillsdale College in 1992 when he moved to the area.
Blum and his family have lived in their current house for five years. It is easy to see that the years they’ve spent there have made this, their third house in Hillsdale, truly a home.
The house is furnished with comfortable furniture and decorated with pictures of Blum’s two daughters, Abigail and Elaine.
Upon entering the house, visitors are greeted by an entourage of friendly animals; the Blum’s have two dogs, a cat and two birds.
In addition to teaching, Blum’s interests include music, reading, poetry and technology. His Web site, “The Chrome Plated Webpage of Destiny,” (http://www.hillsdale.edu/Personal/Blum/), describes many of his most prominent interests. He said it needs updating and that he has been working on a new layout.
“I’ve been interested in computers since grad school, [they were] something I learned in order to procrastinate,” he said, joking.
His musical tastes range from Frank Zappa to Gustav Mahler to Nine Inch Nails and he also participated in barbershop singing with both a chorus and a quartet. Blum was also director of the chorus for a period of time. More recently his musical activity includes taking percussion lessons from Eric Jones, a music teacher at Hillsdale.
“I love percussion music, and it is one of the main venues on campus where you might be more likely to hear more recent music,” Blum said.
His younger daughter, Elaine, left the house this year for undergraduate studies at Lawrence University in Wisconsin, making this the first year with an “empty nest” for Blum and his wife.
Their elder daughter, Abigail, is a senior at Hillsdale this year.
“If anything, I think that being the daughter of a teacher makes it more comfortable for me to go to this school, at least in my case,” she said. “Most people seem to like Dad and think that he’s a great teacher and a fun guy. Having him available made my transition to college a lot easier because I never felt like I was alone.”
“It’s not something we’re constantly talking about, but we think about it a lot,” Blum said. “Our home and our house is very much in transition.”
Blum said he and his wife plan to make some updates to their house in the near future.